Virgin London Marathon – Injury and illness force Kabuu and Tsuchida out

Lucy Kabuu has been forced to withdraw from the women's field for the Virgin London Marathon on 21 April because of tendonitis in her right Achilles, and world champion Wakako Tsuchida is out of the women's wheelchair race.

Kabuu was the second fastest woman in the elite line-up announced in January, one of five athletes in the field who have run the distance quicker than two hours 20 minutes.

The former Commonwealth Games 10,000m champion finished fifth in 2012 but missed out on selection for the Olympic Games because she was beaten by four fellow Kenyans.

She had high hopes of finishing in the top three this year after winning the prestigious Ra's Al-Khaymah half marathon in the United Arab Emirates in February in a personal best of 66 minutes nine seconds.

"It is with a lot of sadness that I have decided not to come to London," said the 29-year-old, who missed two years of competition with an Achillles injury in 2009 and 2010.

"I wanted to come to London to win the marathon and my performance at the RAK half marathon showed that I was in the right condition. I am very sorry, but with this injury I can't do anything."

Tsuchida has pulled out of the women's wheelchair event after failing to recover from illness.

The Japanese racer won the London Marathon in 2010 and was second last year. She won the Boston Marathon five times in a row from 2007 to 2011 but will also miss this year's Boston race which takes place on 15 April.

Illness has also ended the hopes of US runner Renee Baillie who has flu. The 2012 US 20km champion was due to run her second marathon after producing an impressive debut in Chicago last October, but she has been forced to drop out of the elite women's field after missing two weeks of training.

Source: Virgin London Marathon